WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE #4 • MAY 2018 MAY 2018 • ISSUE #4 RPGS REVIEW A Selected History of RPGs Boss Fight Books 06 BY TODD FRIEDMAN 29 BY OLD SCHOOL GAMER RPGS NEWS Role Playing Games Convention Update 08 BY JASON RUSSELL 30 BY OLD SCHOOL GAMER RPGs VIDEO GAME MOVIE REVIEW Nox Archaist Man vs. Snake 10 BY BILL LANGE 36 BY BRAD FEINGOLD RPGs FEATURE Just For Qix: Cadash 45 Years of Arcade Gaming: The 1990s 12 BY MICHAEL THOMASSON 38 BY ADAM PRATT NEWS THE GAME SCHOLAR 2018 Old School Event Calendar Keyboard Creations 14 BY OLD SCHOOL GAMER 44 BY LEONARD HERMAN RPGs PUREGAMING.ORG INFO Wizardry Talk Sega 32x and Sega CD 15 BY KEVIN BUTLER 47 BY PUREGAMING.ORG RPGs Evolution of Role-Playing Games 17 In Japan BY ANTOINE CLERC-RENAUD RPGs Lord British Meetup 19 BY BILL LANGE RPGs Publisher Business Manager Issue Writers Ryan Burger Aaron Burger Todd Friedman, Jason Brett’s Old School Bargain Bin Russell, Bill Lange, 20 Dungeons and Dragons Editor Design Director Michael Thomasson, BY BRETT WEISS Brian Szarek Jacy Leopold Antoine Clerc-Renaud, Brett Weiss, Walter Day, THE WALTER DAY REPORT Editorial Board Design Assistant Jonathan Polan, Todd Dan Loosen Marc Burger Friedman, Brad Feingold, G.O.A.T.’s of the 21st Century Doc Mack Adam Pratt, Leonard 22 BY WALTER DAY Billy Mitchell Art Director Herman Walter Day Thor Thorvaldson INTERVIEW/PEOPLE A Few Minutes with Buck Stein BY OLD SCHOOL GAMER HOW TO REACH OLD SCHOOL GAMER: Postmaster – Send address changes to: 24 OSG • 222 SE Main St • Grimes IA 50111 515-986-3344 Postage paid at Grimes, IA and other mailing locations. www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com INTERVIEW/PEOPLE Old School Gamer Magazine Subscriptions, address changes, or back issues (ISSN# 2574-8076 ONLINE/2574-8068 PRINT) Interview with Video Games Monthly go to: www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com, is published by BC Productions, Inc. or contact Old School Gamer by mail at: BY JONATHAN POLAN 222 SE Main St • Grimes, IA 50111 26 222 SE Main St • Grimes IA 50111 Copyright © 2018 by BC Productions, Inc. Back issues (if available): $6 plus shipping REVIEW All rights reserved. Reproduction of copy, photography, or Subscription rates: US and possessions: $30 for 1 year artwork is prohibited without permission of the publisher. I Have The Power: Super RetroCade Shipping address: OSG • 222 SE Main St • Grimes IA 50111 All advertising material subject to publisher’s approval. 28BY TODD FRIEDMAN TO ADVERTISE IN OLD SCHOOL GAMER OR WORK WITH US ON SOMETHING ELSE, CALL 515-986-3344 x300 OR EMAIL [email protected] 4 OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #4 130,000+ square feet More info and Get Tickets at 50+ VIPs - 1000s of games midwestgamingclassic.com RPGs A Selected History of RPGs By Todd Friedman role-playing game (RPG) is a Dragon Warrior presents players with a a science fantasy setting featuring a game in which each participant clear objective from the start and uses cross-genre combination of magic and A a series of smaller scenarios to increase technology. Phantasy Star was one of assumes the role of a character, the hero’s strength in order to achieve the pioneers of the traditional console generally in a fantasy or science the objective. The game begins in King RPG format, featuring fully traversable fiction setting that can interact within Lorik’s chamber in Tantegel Castle, where overworld maps, complete with inter- the game’s imaginary world. Players the hero receives information about the active towns, and sprawling dungeons. take responsibility for acting out Dragonlord, whom he must defeat, and The player engages in random enemy the stolen Balls of Light, which he must encounters, both on the overworld map these roles within a narrative, either retrieve. After receiving some items and in dungeons, which saw a change through literal acting, structured and gold, the hero sets out on his quest. from the top-down perspective to a first- decision-making, or character Much of Dragon Warrior is spent talking person view. Unique amongst all games development. to townspeople and gathering informa- of the time was the faux 3-D graphics tion from them that leads to additional of Phantasy Star’s dungeons, a widely The first commercially available places, events, and secrets praised technological feature role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons The green-capped hero of The The Elder Scrolls is a series of (D&D), was published in 1974 by Gygax’s Legend of Zelda wrote the book on action action role-playing open world fantasy TSR. TSR marketed the game as a niche RPG gameplay, tackling the toughest video games primarily developed by product. Gygax expected to sell about dungeons with the aid of the equipment Bethesda Game Studios and published 50,000 copies. After establishing itself he found scattered around a massive- by Bethesda Softworks. The series in boutique stores, it developed a cult for-the-time open world. This non-lin- is known for its elaborate and richly following among college students and ear style of game progression offered detailed open worlds and its focus on science fiction fandom. a vast alternative to the seemingly free-form gameplay. Morrowind, Oblivion The earliest RPG designed for on-rails approach of some earlier RPGs and Skyrim all won Game of the Year console gaming was Dragonstomper for and dungeon crawlers. The series also awards from multiple outlets. The series the Atari 2600 in 1982. The game laid the toned down many of the overt Dungeons has sold more than 50 million copies foundation for the tactical role-playing & Dragons elements that had become worldwide. The Elder Scrolls games are game genre, or “simulation RPG” as it standard RPG. With the exception of the action role-playing games, although they is known in Japan. It was also an early first Zelda’s direct sequel, no other games do include elements taken from action example of a real-time, action role-play- in the franchise have displayed numbers and adventure games. In Arena, players ing game. or any other figures in combat. This non- advance by killing monsters (and thereby One of the most memorable innova- traditional, action-oriented style has led gaining experience points) until a preset tions came in 1985’s Ultima IV: Quest Of to thousands of debates and Internet value is met, whereupon they level-up. The Avatar, a game I would have happily flame wars about what truly constitutes However, in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and eloped with at the time. Usually when an RPG. Many purists believe that The Oblivion the series took a skill-based establishing characters, you would Legend of Zelda series can’t claim RPG approach to character advancement. assign points to various attributes and status because of its focus on combat Players develop their characters’ skills skill sets, etc. However, what Ultima IV and exploration over level grinding and by applying them, and only level-up did was ask you a series of questions character customization. Others have when a certain set of skills have been and subsequently shape your character argued that the game’s innate sense of developed. Skyrim took a new approach according to the moral leanings of your discovery and experimentation share a - the more a skill is leveled, the more it responses. This could make all the dif- similar spirit with the RPG genre. Either helps to level the character. This shifted ference between starting the game as a way, Link’s first adventure inspired a host the focus away from character creation shepherd or a druid, for example. It was of other action games that utilized role- and more onto character development. a revelation. playing elements to varying degrees. The flexibility of the games’ engines has facilitated the release of game exten- The first title that inspired legions of Phantasy Star is a series of console sions (or mods) through The Elder Scrolls imitators was Dragon Quest, also known role-playing video games and other Construction Set. as Dragon Warrior in America. It was rev- supplementary media created by Sega. olutionary for its time, and its blueprint The series debuted in 1987 on the Sega Chrono Trigger is a role-playing video is evident in thousands of RPGs. You Master System with Phantasy Star, and game developed and published by Square explore the game’s overworld while continues into the present with Phantasy for the Super Nintendo Entertainment trotting from town to town, selling goods Star Online 2 and other extensions of System in 1995. Considered one of the and interacting with local residents the Phantasy Star Online sub-series. greatest Role Playing Games of all time, until you’re ready to hit your next locale. Each of the games in the series features Chrono Trigger features standard role- 6 OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #4 playing video game gameplay. The player development began; most design elements the original Magic cards and rules. Players controls the protagonist and his com- were hashed out along the way. In contrast, purchase digital cards and are able to play panions in the game’s two-dimensional with Final Fantasy VII, the developers knew online against each other using their digital fictional world, consisting of various from the outset it was going to be “a real 3D collections. Magic: The Gathering Online forests, cities, and dungeons. Navigation game”, so from the earliest planning stage is the closest to paper magic of the digital occurs via an overworld map, depicting detailed designs were in existence. alternatives. the landscape from a scaled-down RPG turned to kids when Pokémon was World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively overhead view.